"So, you're really leaving?"
Simon didn't tear his eyes from the ceiling as he lay in his bed. He had a somewhat resigned expression when he answered.
"I guess… Not like I had much of a place here to begin with."
Knightley rubbed the back of his neck as he tore his eyes away from Simon.
"Comes with being abandoned by our families, I guess. Just didn't peg you to be so trusting of the first guy to show interest in adopting you…"
Simon rolled his eyes.
"I'm not so sure about him yet, I'm doing this more for Kay than anything else."
"The girl? She really wormed her way into your heart that much?" Knightley seemed skeptical of this, too. "Just doesn't add up."
'Of course you wouldn't understand,' Simon thought bitterly. Aloud, he simply replied, "I have my reasons; don't worry your pretty little head over it. Look at it this way: If I could get adopted, your time will come and probably soon. What with your winning personality and all."
"… I guess you're right. Heh." Knightley smirked a little and crossed his arms. Simon rolled his eyes again at his naiveté.
A knock came at their shared room just then, and Patricia Roland entered.
"Simon, darling, your ride is here. You are ready to go, correct?"
Simon sat up in the bed slowly and stretched.
"Yeah." Simon muttered, looking up at Roland. All he really needed was his red jacket and the clothes on his back; when Mister Faraday saw his spare change of clothes, he promised that they would get him some new ones, along with a new toothbrush and the like. Simon couldn't find a reason to disagree, so he just let the man go through the trouble. Simon shot Knightley a sidelong glance and said, "Well… See ya."
"… Yeah. See ya." Horace said, not really sure of what else to say.
A few minutes later Simon, clad in his red jacket, was following Roland to the front of the orphanage, where Kay and Mister Faraday were waiting for him. It didn't take long for Kay to run up to Simon and hug the stuffing out of him.
"Simon…! I can't believe this is happening!" She grinned excitedly.
If Simon was honest with himself, neither could he. It all felt surreal. Could he really put his trust in the Faradays?
… But then, Simon reminded himself. This wasn't just for him. Simon was allowing this adoption to go through because of what happened a couple days ago. That's when he came to realize he didn't want Kay to experience loneliness like he had; not when it would change her for the worse. Kay was just like he was before that incident with his father… So Simon felt a compelling urge to protect that innocence. That was all there was to it.
Two days earlier…
"What do you keep coming around here for?" A boy with a white scarf and black jacket sneered at Kay. He and about four of his 'friends' had formed a circle around the girl as soon as she had attempted to enter the front yard of the orphanage. "I've seen ya hang around that loser, Simon… And I don't get it. If you're looking for a fun time, why not hang out with us, eh? We're loads more fun than him…"
Little Kay had a fierce look on her face as she defended her friend.
"Simon's not a loser! He… He's plenty fun!"
A boy to Kay's right scoffed.
"That guy has no friends. Doesn't even know how he ended up here! He and that other kid, Knightley… At least Knightley doesn't sit in the corner and cry all the time. Simon's a weirdo… I never liked him for being such a wuss."
"Yeah!" Another boy piped up behind Kay. "Simon doesn't belong here 'cause he's a crybaby. Life's hard, boo-hoo! He's not the only one who's got it hard, y'know!"
The boy with the white scarf crossed his arms as he glared at Kay disdainfully.
"Simon doesn't belong here, and neither do you if you insist on trying to be his pal. So why don't ya find some new friends here, huh? There's lots of us to go around."
Kay looked like she was going to tear up, but then the girl behind her went a step further than the boys. She took Kay's backpack from her and held it up mockingly.
"Hey, give that back!" Kay cried as she tried to grab her backpack. However, the other girl held it behind her back and sneered down at Kay.
"Only if you say please. And promise not to hang out with Simon anymore."
"But my Promise Notebook's in there! Daddy gave it to me for me to remember them!"
"All ya have to do is stop hanging out with Simon," The first boy pointed out in a condescending tone.
While this was going on, Simon was watching from the front gate, frozen at what these kids were doing to Kay. But something within him seemed to snap when Kay brought up the Promise Notebook; it was one thing to bully Kay for trying to be his friend, but to take a valuable keepsake from her father?
"Why don't you come back, dad…? Why did you leave me all alone?"
Simon clenched his fists as his bitter memories resurfaced.
"Is it… Is it because I didn't keep my promise to taste your sweets? I'm so sorry, dad! Please come back!"
Before he knew it, Simon was charging at the supposed leader of the bullies – the kid with the white scarf. Simon didn't understand why he was so angry, at least, not until he later reflected on it. But the point is, Simon had to do something. You just didn't pick on someone like Kay; she didn't deserve that. She had a loving family – she didn't need to be brought down to their level of misery.
And she was going out on a limb for someone like him of all people. Him, Simon Keyes. The kid who 'sat in the corner and cried all the time'. It wasn't just a matter of something needing to be done; he had to do something about these bullies. It was only fair.
"Ouch!" The boy with white scarf cried out as he felt Simon tug on his scarf. When he turned around, Simon punched him in the face without hesitation. The boy then held both of his hands up to his nose as he could feel that it was bleeding. He scowled and glared at Simon. "What the hell…?"
"Leave Kay alone…" Simon told him in no uncertain terms. He glared back at the boy hatefully. It was people like him and Knightley that Simon had trust issues. Trust issues… and disgust for other people in general. It wasn't his fault that he was wary of other people; for most of his life, Simon had come to see the worst society had to offer.
That was just what life had in store for Simon Keyes. However, Kay Faraday was different. She had not yet lost her family. She had the courage to reach out to someone like him. Life should shower nothing but blessings on her cute little head.
"Just wait until Miss Roland hears about this!" The boy with the white scarf threatened Simon. "She'll kick you out!"
"Go ahead," Simon stood his ground. "And I'll tell her what you guys were doing to Kay! A kid who's not even from here!"
For a while, the atmosphere seemed tense, but at last the bullies did disperse, rather hurriedly at that. The girl who'd stolen Kay's backpack tossed it back at her quickly, making sure Kay caught it, and then dashed off like the others. When he was sure they were gone, Simon walked over to Kay and placed a hand on her quaking shoulder.
"Kay… are you alright?" Simon asked in a completely different tone from before. Honestly, who wouldn't feel bad for her?
"Y-You didn't have to do that…" Kay sobbed. Simon felt a twinge of guilt at her sorrowful stare. "Wh-Why did you p-punch him…?"
Simon sighed and brought Kay in for a tentative hug, resting his chin on top of her head.
"I didn't mean to scare you, Kay… I'm sorry. It's just… when you brought up that Promise Notebook from your dad, I couldn't help but be mad at them." He paused as he tried to compose himself. "I… lost my dad a few years ago. I think he was murdered. It hurts that he's gone and that he's never coming back… but you still have your dad. And you should be able to treasure something like that Promise Notebook, if it's from him of all people. Those jerks had no right…"
"Simon… it's okay." Kay mumbled, startling Simon a bit. "I… I was upset about the book, but… but it was the way they talked about you that I was more upset about… Those meanies shouldn't have said those things."
Simon smiled somewhat grimly as he patted Kay on the back. That's right, she only had a glimpse of the worst the world had to offer. She didn't know yet that life was unfair, or that not all people are necessarily 'nice'. And why should she? If there was any certainty in this world, it was that Kay Faraday had a right to remain innocent for as long as possible. She was just a little kid. Someone who shouldn't have to hang out around crappy orphanages in a trashy part of town.
But… Kay was stubborn. Kinda like him. Even if he decided to reject Mister Faraday's offer, she would continue coming around. And eventually, she'd lose that bubbly innocence that he found somewhat charming. It was a tiny thing, but it was enough to really make him think about his life and what he wanted. Maybe he couldn't trust Mister Faraday yet, but Kay was an entirely different story. She was practically too young to deceive him about anything. She wanted to be his friend, and deep down, Simon acknowledged that maybe… just maybe he wanted to be her friend as well.
And friends look out for each other. If he was gonna preserve Kay's innocence, Simon would need to keep her away from the orphanage. The best way to do that was just to accept his adoption. It was as simple as that, even though he didn't like to admit it.
"… I know, Kay… But it's going to be okay, I promise."
'… And it will be. Even if I gotta sacrifice my happiness, I'll make darn sure you'll stay happy, Kay.' Simon smiled down at Kay and patted her head.
"Yeah… I can't believe it either." Simon replied. He grinned tentatively up at Mister Faraday, and then hesitantly accepted his outstretched hand when Kay let go. And then, he walked out of the orphanage with his new family. To what he was walking into Simon didn't yet know, but it would be a very different life…
Author's Note: I know, the ending kinda got saccharine-sweet, but it just had to be done in this case. :P I'm of the opinion that Simon is not yet to the point when he's completely selfish, so it's not quite out-of-character for him to care about Kay at this point. He had a harrowing experience at an early age that left him with muddled memories, but he's not too far gone yet. When a little girl walks into his life wanting to be his friend, Simon just kinda… yields. How can he say no to li'l bubbly Kay Faraday, eh? XD
Alas, now we reach the point where these drabbles jump around a bit because my muse will be all over the place. I'm kinda surprised I dragged Simon's adoption on for this long, but then, these are tiny things aren't they? :P But now we're gonna get into all kinds of things – birthday parties, first meeting with Tyrell Badd, how the incident at the orphanage changed without Simon's presence, the KG-8 Incident, discovering the truth behind Simon's parentage, reconciling with Knightley, bonding with the Faradays. All. Over. The. Place. lol It's all going to depend on which muse comes easiest from now on; 'cause once I've written it, I won't hesitate from posting from now on. ^^ If you want, you can review and tell me what you wanna see most – I have no intention of ending this so soon. Even if it takes a while to get around to your requests, I will try to somehow meet them all, even if I have to add my own personal twist to those ideas.
Regardless of whether you review or not, though, I will keep writing. 'Cause this is fun. Aaand I might have finally downloaded the English fandub of Ace Attorney Investigations 2, so, y'know, I'll have more to go on than the Wiki and Youtube video playthroughs. Hope to keep everyone in-character – or in Simon's case, show what he could have been. ^^
